What is Laser Technology and Its Uses?

First time being developed by Gordon Gould in the 1950s, the laser is one of the most popular devices to be used this day and on top of the many functions that it brings to the modern world. An optic laser can be found in most items from weapon guiding systems to hair removal surgery.

Originally, Gould and his friends had a debate about finding a practical application for this new creation. Lasers are generated by a device that emits an intense beam of light by stimulated emission of photons from excited atoms or molecules.

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Laser has been used today in various things by developing several types of innovations. 60 years coming in since the development of this technology, lasers are still relevant to this day and here we would like to share with you some of the most unique uses of lasers.

1. Laser Cooling

In the mid-1980s, physician, Steven Chu showed the beam of a laser can be used to cool down atoms to a considerably low temperature. The particles in the gas showed an active behavior moving at such a high speed with immense energy. However, when the gas was cooled off, the particles start to lose their energy and also a rapid drop in their velocity.

In other words, slowing down an atom will also result in a lower temperature. This is a crucial aspect of the laser cooling concept. As the atom moves towards the laser, it will absorb the photon from the beam and will start moving slower.

When its movement is much slower, the lower number of particles will start to lose a part of their energy and this will ultimately reduce the temperature.

This basic theory suggests that 20,000 photos are required to reduce the momentum of the natrium atom to zero. This might seem hard to achieve but Chie has stated that with the right level of tuning, a laser is capable of blocking around 10 million absorptions per second.

With laser cooling technology, an atom can be stopped in almost milliseconds.

2. Holographic Data Storage

Ever since the launch of the compact disc in the 1980s, laser technology has played a crucial role in recording, storing, and retrieval of data. Despite that, technology will always have its own limitations.

In all the optic storage techniques available at the time, data is written on the surface of the disc. This means that the amount of data that can be stored in devices like DVDs will be limited based on their surface area.

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In order to overcome this issue, scientists have looked into better ways to improve the storage space of optic devices through holographic data storage. This device is capable of storing more information in the form of a three-dimensional hologram.

This will not only significantly increase the amount of data that can be stored in a specific place but it is also said as a new efficient and trusted method. However, this technology only exists as a prototype.

In the past years, developers have tried to produce this commercial technique for holographic storage but none have truly succeeded yet.

3. Contact Lense

Scientists have developed a sophisticated contact lens that emits laser light from your eyes. This amazing achievement might be inspired by the creation of ultrathin films with a thickness of merely 1/1000 that can be placed or immersed into the contact lens.

As laser light passes through it, it will emit its own laser light with the wavelength of 420 and 720nm that can be adjusted to emit a specific wavelength and also to emit light like one and zero series in a code bar.

This technology was revealed on May 2018 by a team of physicists from St Andrews University that told reported how it can be used to create security tags that can be worn.

When tested on a cow's eyeball, the lens produced a laser beam with around 1nanowatt of power.

4. Military Drone Defence System

Laser weapons are the future of military technology. The US Marine Corps has tested its Compact Laser Weapon System(CLaWS) which is a system installed on vehicles that are designed to destroy enemy drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Compared to traditional weapons, lasers are not only better but can also make it hard for drones to detect and target soldiers.

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As the tension starts to escalate in the Middle East, the Turkish army used this laser technology to show their innovative and powerful army. On August 2019, Turkey has ordered their army to use the laser to attack and destroy UAE drones that linger in the region of Libya Misurata.

5. Stem Cell Bioprint

Bioprinting is a new advanced process that has been utilized by medical experts to produce synthetic organs and tissues. These fake replicas were made by depositing drops of bioinks layer by layer to construct a functional 3-D structure.

In 2018, one group of researchers from Zentrum Hannover Laser developed a technique to bioprint a stem cell known as hiPSC which is a pluripotent stem cell produced by humans. This cell is considered multifunctional meaning that it can change into other types of cells in the human body.

Due to that, it has huge potential to be the material to build replacement organs or even a personal drug test system. As of now, early tests have been proven to be a success. Almost all cells were intact from the laser printing process as well as retaining their nature too.

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